1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to foot activated musical drum impacting devices, and more particularly to a practice device for exercising the foot on a simulated drum pedal not attached to a drum, which can be used with a transducer or other pickup to produced synthesized sound, and which may be used with an adaptive arm as an active drum pedal for striking a drum, block, cymbal, tambourine, or other percussion instrument, and used with a piezo transducer or other pickup can be used for playing electronic sound generators.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are many devices such as practice drum pads for drummers that allow, with the use of sticks, for practicing rudiments and simulate playing a drum. Drummers also have their legs and feet they use with other drum instruments, such as bass drum pedals; high hat pedals; and auxiliary pedals.
The prior art primarily concerns actual drum pedals used for striking drums with various configurations and modifications.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,392,130, issued May 21, 2002 to Karl R. Carlson, provides an improved drum pedal having movable head pivots, a clutch on a beater connect, a compression spring with a bearing mount, a circular ramp (Memory Lock release) for cam adjustment of the drum rim clamp, and a cog belt/cog wheel linkage combination.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,613, issued Sep. 8, 1987 to Luke Jacobson, shows a bass drum pedal includes a base frame with a pivotal footplate assembly for driving a rotatable shaft supported on the frame. A hammer is connected to the drive shaft, and is moved to impact on a drum head. A cable connects the footplate to a generally spiral shaped torque arm mounted to the drive shaft. The torque arm is adjustable to vary the amount of footplate movement per unit of hammer sweep. A spring and chain are connected between the frame and drive shaft to return the hammer to a resting position after being operated to impact on the drum. A pair of sprockets are eccentrically mounted with the chain wrapped around them such that the amount of footplate movement per unit of total spring tension can be increased or decreased throughout the hammer stroke. The footplate assembly includes a heel plate, arch plate and toe plate each adjustably attached to a pair of rails pivotally connected to the base frame at the heel end. The heel, arch and toe plates are specially contoured to support the foot and prevent xe2x80x9ccuppingxe2x80x9d and rolling of the foot during high speed playing. An acoustic drum simulator assembly adjustably secured to the drive shaft is connected to one end of a coil spring wrapped around the drive shaft. The other end of the coil spring is attached to a collar which holds the hammer. The spring allows a limited amount of additional rotation of the drive shaft past the point at which the hammer contacts the drum head, to thereby simulate the feel of an acoustic drum when utilizing the pedal on an electronic drum.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,638, issued Aug. 31, 1982 to Masao Hoshino, indicates a foot-operated drum pedal is composed of a rocker constituted in a sprocket, and a chain connecting between the sprocket and the toe end of a pedal element. In the foot-operated pedal, a block and an inverse U-shaped bracket are attached respectively to both ends of the chain using pins, the block is screwed to the toe end of the pedal element and the bracket is screwed to and grips the sprocket, and a machine screw which is inserted between rollers of the chain disposed along the block is screwed to the block.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,146, issued Nov. 25, 1980 to James R. Purdy, puts forth a base drum pedal assembly is disclosed and includes a foot pedal for operating a beater head, the foot pedal including a foot plate which is slidably mounted on a support coupled to the beater head and which is biased towards a rest position. In use, the player depresses the foot pedal and can, at the same time, slide the foot plate forward against its biasing. At the end of a stroke, the pedal returns upwardly and the foot plate is returned to its rest position by said biasing means.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,929, issued Jan. 7, 1997 to Ronald J. Wellman, concerns a device for beating drums selectively by either foot. A first foot mechanism controls the movement of a first mallet. A second foot mechanism controls the movement of a second mallet remotely. A third foot mechanism controls the movement of a third mallet. A fourth foot mechanism controls the movement of a fourth mallet remotely. A first support mechanism, adjacent the first and fourth foot mechanisms, elevates a heel portion of a foot. A second support mechanism, adjacent the second the third foot mechanisms, elevates a heel portion of a foot.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,342, issued Apr. 23, 1996 to Brad Augsburger, illustrates a foot pedal assembly which has the same general operating components as a conventional foot pedal assembly, but with a comparatively exaggerated length of the foot pedal part. The longer foot pedal can be played with the same feel as a conventional foot pedal, and allows the staging of bass drums further away from the percussion artist than had conventionally been possible.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,800,828, issued Jul. 30, 1957 to Sanford A. Moeller, discloses a bass drum pedal designed so that the heel assumes a natural position.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,369,233, issued Feb. 22, 1921 to G. M. Fitzgerald and H. C. Lockley, claims a double drum pedal to allow the drum to be struck with or without the cymbal using a single foot.
U.S. Pat. No. 922,706, issued May 25, 1909 to William F. Ludwig, describes a drum and cymbal playing pedal which is adjustable and detachable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,181, issued Dec. 11, 1990 to Wu H. Hsieh, is for a means for maintaining cymbal pedal tightness includes a fixed fitting to which both a cymbal pedal is attached and to either end of which a spring fitting is attached. The other end of each spring fitting is attached to an adjusting fitting. The adjusting fitting is fixably disposed directly above the pedal. A depression of the cymbal pedal pulls downwardly on the fixed fitting causing the springs in the spring fitting to extend. A subsequent release of the pedal releases the tension on the springs allowing the pedal to return to its original position. The tension in the springs is adjustable by means of gears disposed within the adjusting fitting.
There is a need for a simulated drum pedal to be used for exercising the foot of the drummer without the noise of striking a drum.
An object of the present invention is to provide a height adjustable pedal having a tension adjustable spring-loaded hinge that allows practicing pedal movement and exercising for a drummer""s foot and leg without the normal noise associated with drumming.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an,attachable extension arm to permit playing percussion instruments.
One more object of the present invention is to provide a velocity sensor or piezo transducer pickup for generating sound on electronic devices.
In brief, the pedal of the present invention provides a simulated drum pedal for exercising the foot and leg without having an actual bass drum or high hat stand and cymbals, which take up a lot of space and are not for quiet playing. This is a portable and quiet device a drummer can use in a hotel room, class room, and other locations where it is desired to minimize the noise level and minimize transportation and setting up of a bass drum or practice drum set, so that a drummer can practice pedal technique or warm up before a performance and improve control, speed and endurance without the high volume associated with playing a drum set.
An attachable extension arm attached to the end of the pedal allows for striking other sounding devices. Drummers and percussionists can use this to strike other sounding devices such as: tambourine, cowbell, wood block, etc. A shaker can be attached and the back and forth movement as if playing with the hands can be achieved.
A velocity sensor can be used for sending velocity information to an electronic receiving device. With a velocity sensor the pedal can trigger electronic sounding devices. The sound-to-electrical transducer is connected to an audio jack assembly which in turn allows the drum to be connected to conventional downstream electronics. With a piezo transducer attached to the stopper portion of the pedal it can send info to an electronic sound source, making it an electronic pedal.
The pedal has a variable spring tension adjustment as well as pedal stopper height adjustment. This allows user to adjust pedal for comfortable playability. The height is adjustable through the stopper height. The underside of the stopper has a protruding screw that is received by a female threaded opening located on the base plate of the pedal. Counterclockwise rotation raises the stopper reducing the amount of distance between the stopper and top pedal plate allowing less movement by the user. Clockwise rotation does the opposite.
The top plate resting position (or starting position) is adjustable as well. On the center of the hinge are 3 (approx.) threaded holes where a stopping screw can be positioned. These stop the top plate to the desired resting position. One position setting allowing the plate to start closer to (and needing less movement to) the stopper.
One end of the coil spring is attached to bottom plate hinge at a permanent position. The other end is attached to a movable part that when pushed in and rotated adjusts the amount of spring tension. When released it locks into the top plate hinge.
An advantage of the present invention is that it allows drumming practice and exercise with no noise.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it can be modified to play percussion instruments.
An additional advantage of the present invention is that it can be modified to play electronic sound generating devices.